A TOUCH of Mediterranean g lamour and romance came to the Mersey last night when Latin singing legend Julio Iglesias took to the stage.

A TOUCH of Mediterranean g lamour and romance came to the Mersey last night when Latin singing legend Julio Iglesias took to the stage.

For his army of devoted fans, it was the moment they had been waiting for ever since he topped the charts more than 20 years ago with Begin the Beguine.

Last night's audience at the Summer Pops showed that the smoocher's appeal wasn't confined only to women of a certain age, with many in their 20s and 30s proving the pulling power of an oldfashioned Latin ladies' man.

Although Julio looked in pretty good shape for someone who celebrated his 60th birth-day this year, he was still selfconscious enough to ban press photographers from the pit directly in front of the stage - the place where pictures of all artists appearing at the Pops are usually taken.

He was also happy to take a back seat for several numbers while a pair of professional dancers performed the Tango and other sultry moves.

But his in-between-song banter showed that he was still happy to live up to his image of all-round sex god.

"Tonight, after the show, we are going to go back to our houses to make love like crazy," he told the audience after one number. Everyone roared their appreciation, even though to some it was no more than wishful thinking.

"Let's talk about sex - it's not always a fantasy, it should be a reality," he said in his thick Spanish accent after another.

But he showed he didn't take himself too seriously, with several remarks at his own expense - mainly concerning his age and his struggles with English pronunciation.

The fans lapped it up, with a number of women rushing the stage to touch the great man's hand - the nearest they got to touching anything - before being led away by security.

The Spanish superstar's statistics are of the kind to make the mind boggle - during a 35-year career, he has sold 250m records worldwide in different languages, and made a total of 77 albums.

He has, of course, also established a pop star dynasty with son Enrique Iglesias catering for the younger generation of female fans while their mothers and grandmothers swoon to Julio.

One group of female fans were more than up for an evening in the company of the Latin heart-throb.